Snow everywhere!

 There has been so much cold and snow this winter at times we could barely get out of our driveway and down the street. Thank goodness for all wheel drive in our Subarus. We are also glad for a garage we can get one of our cars into because I don't know if I would even leave the house if I had to shovel my car out every day. Our chickens haven't liked the snow at all this winter and barely come out of the coop and stopped laying. Which was disappointing because feeding 20 some chickens all winter and getting 2 eggs a day was eating at the 'feed' budget and Jeff seriously thought about eating a few. Everyone loves the snow in the family, although I seem to enjoy it the least. I use the excuse of not having anything fun to do besides snow shoeing, like skiing.

 Phaelen has learned to ski this year, making me the loner in the family who stays home every Saturday because the boys go skiing together. It gives me a lot of 'me' time that I do enjoy but am constantly being reminded that I am the only one who doesn't know how or how my 5 year old brags that he is already better than I am. Calder has made some great improvements and took lessons again. Phaelen isn't old enough for lessons yet but he is also free for one more year. Jeff has taught Phaelen how to ski thus far, but after a few crazy dare-devil attempts we quickly decided that helmets were needed and we ordered some ASAP (thanks Garrett). Jeff volunteers as the ski bus driver/chaperone and gets a free lift ticket so it all works out very well in the budget. The hardest part about the ski bus is that they leave just after 7am on Saturday and waking up that early wears the kids out and they are super tired when they come home around 6:30 pm, they eat, shower and sleep for 12 hours. Luckily church is at 12:30 on Sunday so we all sleep in.

 Grand Targhee ski resort.

We were lucky enough to go to one of Jeff's favorite places to ski this year on our way down to a family get together at the end of the month. We were lucky enough to stay with a good friend in Idaho Falls and spend half of a day up at Grand Targhee ski resort just on the other side of the Idaho border in Wyoming. We were able to take some photos and video but the snow was coming down so hard at times that it was almost impossible to recognize anyone skiing. We were lucky to miss a real blizzard while we were on vacation and we had many phone calls from the kids' school that there was a 2 hour delay or a complete cancellation of school. Some friends of our who were taking care of the cows and chickens even got stuck in our driveway in their massive jacked up Suburban! We were so glad we missed it!

Ember turned one on Valentines day. We took some photos of her to show what she looks like compared to Calder and how shaggy she is before we get her groomed this spring. She is still definitely a puppy brain, but she is learning to be obedient and have good manners. She is a wonderful dog but takes a lot of time and training to get her to do what you want, or not do something, which is a typical terrier trait. We are working on consistency, gentleness and being alone. She really likes to be around us, and people, 24/7 and she is learning that although we leave her alone sometimes she doesn't need to escape or be anxious and remain calm and behave well.

Annual Newsletter 2013

 The year of 2013 has been one of contentment for us. As of Christmas we have lived in Montana longer than any other place since we have been married, Jeff has worked at the Missoula City Fire Department for 2.5 years and we have lived in our first home for 1.5 years.

As many of you know we have a house on just less than 5 irrigated acres and is a fixer-upper, as they would say. The outside has been going great! Our yard is alive and thriving, we had more success with gardening this year, planted a ton of flowers and even some bushes. We all worked together to fix and hotwire our outer fence. We are raising a steer we named Steak, so we don’t forget his purpose, and another one for a friend. We trade pasturing their steer for a gallon of fresh, raw milk from their milk cow each week (yummy!). We currently run herd on 31 chickens. Jeff went crazy with an ax one afternoon and took out 2 young roosters but later picked up 6 more hens, a used hen house, water, and feeder. Now realizing this is too many, Jeff is trying to control himself by putting together a package deal to sell some off and NOT have them on the Easter table.  Lastly, our hay has done great!  Since Steak will be in the freezer next winter we’ll sell the hot mix and make some cash.

 A lot of work has gone to fixing the inside of the house. Cleaning the carpets at least every 6 months, painting every single room plus ceilings, holes that mice keep finding and we keep patching, another leak destroying what was left of the unfinished downstairs bathroom ceiling. The good parts on the inside are that we painted the kitchen cabinets a very pretty blue, added new cabinet hardware, switching the office and the guest room, obtained quotes for flooring in the whole place (it is not as bad as we thought!), a wonderful saintly plumber we know picked up a used bathroom sink/ cabinet/ mirror and now our basement bathroom is fully functional, besides the lack of light fixtures or light switches, and drafts around the doors are now sealed. Finally, we have a beautiful old upright piano. Jo enjoys playing and frequently plays for the Primary at church and Calder asks to be serenaded to sleep often. That talent hasn’t yet rubbed off on any other family members.

 We got a new dog! Ember came from a breeder in Twin Falls Idaho when she was 3 months old. Being so old she was kind of nervous about everything and was behind on the training curve. We have done a lot of training with her and she is proving to be very smart. She is 10 months old now and already 65 lbs. We take her everywhere we can and she is getting past the teenage stubbornness. She loves runs and hikes but most of all she loves being around us and isn’t fond of being left out of anything.

We took off on a family trip to Utah in the spring. Jeff spent some time hiking with old college buddies in Moab while Jo and the boys spent time with family up north. Then all of us met together in Moab and did some tourist stuff, hiking, biking, shopping and had a great time.

Summer was a whirlwind of changing pipe, overtime shifts, swimming in the river almost every day, trips to Lake Inez, mowing the yard (thanks Grandma J) and playing with friends. Towards the end we attended Jo’s Henry family reunion in Coeur d’Alene. It was awesome! There were lots of kids, a paddle board, a cool rental house, crafts, very warm/clear water to swim in, biking around, some cliff jumping, extended family to get to know, and wonderful food. We are already excited about next one.

Now for a quick list of who did what. Calder: took ski lessons at Lost Trail with the school ski bus, riding his bike and tearing it up in Utah, playing with friends, finished up 1^st grade, went to Hoggle Zoo, canoeing, camping, turned 8 and chose to be baptized, swimming in the river, swimming in the lake, learning to drive a car in the hay field, soccer, started 2^nd grade, trip to Oregon with Jo to cousin Cooper’s baptism, Lego Fest in Portland with Cooper and Uncle Garrett, was the grim reaper for Halloween, and made lots of friends at school, even girls.

Phaelen: finished pre- school, obsessed with sledding and snow, learned to ride his bike and never gave up, camping, went to SLC Hoggle Zoo and asked millions of questions, canoeing, camping, swimming in the river, tubing behind the boat, turned 5yrs old, played on his first soccer team, started Kindergarten, was Perry the Platypus for Halloween, and is experiencing the joys of homework .

Johanna: second year of being the Wolf den leader in Cub Scouts and now has Calder in her pack, working very hard at online school and is gaining lots of KSA’s as an artist, canoeing, mountain biking, camping, hikes, changed the pipe while Jeff was at work, went to the river, made great strides in her water skiing up at Lake Inez, working out, jogs with the dog, kept the family fed, and has been helping in Phaelen’s kindergarten classroom at a moment’s notice. She is a loving Mom and is an anchor in all of the craziness going on.

Jeff: chaperone the ski bus and skied with Calder, pick up passenger and school bus endorsements on his CDL, is a sub at the boys’ elementary school, hiked a lot in Utah with college friends, had a great time swimming and waterskiing, he stayed in shape and participated for the first time in the Scott Firefighter Combat Challenge and ran a personal best on the course and had a good time racing a bunch as part of a team, coached Calder’s soccer team (with Jo as an assistant coach), feeding the cows, skiing and begging/working hard for new ski gear.

            We have been very blessed this year. We are working hard to enrich our lives and continue living the gospel of Jesus Christ. We know He is our Lord and is watching over all of us. We invite anyone to come and visit us in the magnificent Bitterroot Valley; our door is always open!

The end of summer is coming

 We got our second cutting from our field last week and the wildfires are starting to really kick up and the sky is smoky, the sun is eerily red and it smells so bad we can't open our windows at night. It has gotten so bad this week the forestry/wild land fire officials have closed Hwy. 12 from Lolo, which is only 15 miles from our house. We have friends that may be evacuated and we just pray that everyone is kept safe - especially those battling the blaze. Jeff is praying that he gets called out to one of the multiple wildfires going on around us.

 This is what we do when we don't have a tractor, truck or trailer. We improvise - or 'Bitterroot' it. We put an 8 year old behind the wheel of a small sedan put it in first gear and use a heavy duty rope to tow a long sled made of pallets with hay bales stacked on them to take them to our shed so we can feed our cow for the winter. I'm just glad we don't have to move pipe twice a day. And yes, that is Phaelen on top of the stack of hay getting a free ride.

Here is Ember with her most recent hair cut and she is finally looking much more brown and grown up. We are still working with her. Now that we've had her longer than we had Gachet we are learning that it is going to be a while longer until she starts acting a little more grown up. Such is the life with an Airedale Terrier - goofy and persistent until they're middle aged. We love her still and can't wait until she gets to play in the snow with us this winter.

Happy Summertime!

 We have been having fun this summer with a lot of different activities. We have been lucky enough to go up to Lake Inez a couple of times so far and each time the boys get a little more comfortable in the water. Phaelen was brave enough this year to go on the tube behind the boat and now asks to go often. Calder has yet to brave the speed of being behind the boat but he loves to snorkel and help Jeff catch crawdads. Calder also turned eight at the beginning of the month and was baptized. He also got some awesome presents and had a fun party with friends. Phaelen keeps asking when his birthday is and how many days - he's excited to celebrate his own birthday. Oh, I also had my birthday in June and had a good time by going on a fun and surprise date with Jeff in downtown Missoula. We have also been enjoying our new puppy Ember and she is growing and learning quickly.